Run, Don't Walk
by Veronique Roux
Summary: I was never 'innocent', as they say. I never had a chance. This war has taken so many lives... But no one really remarks on the lives that could have been. My name is Silvercrest. Some say it's never to late to have a childhood... I disagree. BEE/OC
1. Chapter 1

okay, so heres my new story, if you like this, you might like my other story, called Someday. it is also a WIP.

_Thoughts_

_'song lyrics'_

_"Cellphone"_

**Autobot comm line**

_**cybertronian**_

you might think its weird that she can speak, even though she's a newborn, but I figured, well, they're robots, wouldn't they kind of be onlined with the knowledge preloaded on their systems? she only speaks cybertronian, when they find her.

enjoy!

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><p>The ground was shaking. The Decepticons were close. Starscream was leading a few troops through the city of Tyger Pax, as a part of the mass Cybertronian infanticide.<p>

Starfly's optics widened in fear. She hurried over to her only daughter's recharge station. Silvercrest was recently sparked, just less than a quarter vorn old. Her father, Starfly's Sparkmate, Sparkburn, had been killed in an explosion at the weapons factory he was employed at. Her brothers, Starfly's other two sons, were just outside the nursery, guarding the door. Both Fireshot and Larkim were in-training with the Autobots, learning to fight, getting weapons fitted. They were both around 5 and a half vorns older than Silvercrest.

The ground shook again. Larkim was screaming Fireshot's name, but his voice was cut off as another missile hit. Starfly picked up her small daughter, who was now crying. She did a quick scan of the area. No life forms detected.

_No life forms._

_No life..._

Energon tears pooled in Starfly's own optics, she hugged Silvercrest closer, now cursing the fact that the Cybertronian processor didn't forget. Silvercrest would be plagued by this memory unless, Primus forbid, her small spark were to be extinguished.

_Incoming airborne projectile._

Starfly cursed softly in Cybertronian. Silvercrest softly whispered in the same language. "_**Mommy...**_"

"**_Shh..._**", Starfly glanced at the ceiling. The missile was close, now. Tears flooded her face plates, coming down to merge with her daughter's on her slim chassis.

The femme curled onto the floor, surrounding her daughter.

Starfly was usually not one to prayer, but she made one of her rare exceptions. _Please, Primus, keep her safe. Take my Spark, let them think her dead. Please..._

She never got the chance to finish the prayer. The missile plunged through the roof of the nursery, and Starfly's screams mingled with Silvercrest's as her spark flickered once...twice...and extinguished.

* * *

><p>Ironhide grunted with displeasure as he hoisted himself over a small ledge, where the earth had caved in. Ratchet was just ahead of him, the slightly taller mech's scanners picking up every lifeless shell.<p>

"**_Ratchet, we need to face it. There's nothing left. Tyger Pax has been a wasteland for over a year, now._**", he called up to the CMO.

An annoyed sounding mechanical whirring sounded from Ratchet before he replied. "_**You don't know that. And I am CERTAIN that I picked up a Spark signature. I'm certain..."**_

Ironhide gave the robotic version of a snort. "**_Well, be certain faster. We're leaving in about a joor._**"

Ratchet nodded, continuing to closely scan the surrounding area. "_**I know. Prime told me to get us back to base in at least one mega-cycle before then.**_"

Ironhide rolled his optics. "_**Trust me, Ratch... There's nothing-**_" He was abruptly cut off as Ratchet shushed him.

Ratchet didn't say anything for a few moments, clearly listening hard. He looked up, locking optics with the other mech. "**_D'you hear that?_**"

Ironhide's lip components locked in a frown as he concentrated. "**_Is that a...Sparkling?_**"

Ratchet simply shrugged, quickening his pace. Ironhide followed suit.

"**_I've locked on... Follow me._**", Ratchet instructed.

Ironhide grudgingly obeyed the younger 'bot, following him towards the remains of a large building. It was crumbled, now, a pile of rubble.

"_**Towards the left side of this...structure, there is a pile of what used to be a Cybertronian adult, which is covering a Sparkling, not too far under 20 meta-cycles. A new-Spark.**_"

Ironhide's gaze softened. "**_Poor thing musta been trapped under there since the infanticide._**"

Ratchet nodded somberly. "**_I can save it, but I need to get it back to base fast. I can start it on Energon supplements, it does have some damages, but those will be assessed on the way to that other planet, whatever the slag it's called._**"

"**_It's called Earth, Ratchet. Really, we're leaving in less than a joor and you can't remember the name of the OTHER PLANET we're going to?_**"

"**_Whatever. Move your aft, before I weld your helm to it._**"

Ironhide rolled his optics and walked around the side of the ruined building to the area Ratchet had indicated.

Ratchet was a little ways away from him, pushing around a pile of what looked basically like a mound of dirt covering a bigger mound of disintegrated metal.

Ironhide watched as the medic suddenly started slightly, and he saw the other mech hesitate before he reached down and pulled something tiny out of the mess of the room.

It was a Sparkling. A tiny, baby spark, that was deep into recharge.

"**_Oh, no..._**"

_Frag. _"**_What?_**_"_

_"**She's been in recharge for nearly a meta-cycle. We need to hurry.**_"

"**_What's the rush?_**", Ironhide asked, following Ratchet back on their original path, heading towards base.

"**_She's about to drop into stasis._**"

About a groon later, they'd made it back to base. The Sparkling was still offline, curled comfortably into the crook of Ratchet's arm.

"**_Go make a report to Prime. Tell him what's happened. I have work to do."_**

Ironhide nodded crisply, turning around to head to Prime's office. Ratchet shifted his grip on the Sparkling and strode into the med bay.

After two straight groons of energon shots, a lot of cursing, and a few light shocks, the Sparkling woke. By this time, Ratchet was throughly frustrated, but a look of relief snapped onto his features.

Her bright blue optics suddenly shot into life, and she jumped up, already in a fighting stance, snarling at him in hardly comprehensible Cybertronian.

The only word he really caught was '**_Mommy_**'.

Ratchet's relieved look disappeared into concern. He gently took either of her wrists, knowing from experience that physical contact was the best way to get it through to a Sparkling that you were a friend.

"**_We're not going to hurt you, youngling. Listen to me. You're safe now. It's okay._**"

The young 'bot slowly calmed down. She relaxed into a sitting position.

"**_Good, good... Now, can you tell me your name, little one?_**"

She stared at him with wide optics, that were not nearly as innocent as she deserved them to be. "**_I'm Silvercrest._**"

"**_Do you have a family? Did they have to run?_**"

Her optics filled with tears. "**_Daddy died before I was onlined. Mommy died when the ground shook, and the lights came on really bright._**"

Ratchet's optics softened. "**_I'm sorry... Any siblings, anyone we can contact?_**"

The tears began to spill down her face. "**_Larkim...and...Fire..shot...died right...be-fore...Mommy!_**" She began to all-out wail.

Ratchet picked her up, gently rocking her. "**_No, please don't...oh, Primus... Please, it's alright now, nothing is going to hurt you, it's okay, you're safe here, please don't cry, you're alright, it's safe..."_**

Silvercrest slowly quieted. _**"Nothing will hurt me here? You promise?"**_

Ratchet smiled at the innocence of her question. She should be innocent. **_"I promise."_**

She smiled at him. **_"What's your name? Where is this place?"_**

**_"I'm Ratchet. This is...well, by loose definition, a military base. We're about to leave for a different planet. We need something from there."_**

**_"Can I come with you?"_**

**_"Yes, you definitely can."_**

She beamed at him. **_"Okay."_**

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><p><strong><em>"Her name is Silvercrest, I don't know the names of her parents, she was too young to be added to any cohort yet. She's about twenty meta-cycles old, and she is lightly injured, but nothing that a couple weeks of double-shots of energon won't take care of."<em>**

Prime nodded. **_"No family, at all?"_**

Ratchet hesitated. **_"She had two brothers. They're both dead, but we actually knew them..."_**

Prime's optics narrowed. **_"Who?"_**

**_"Larkim and Fireshot. The two young ones, hardly started training, less than a vorn ago...?"_**

**_"Larkim and Fireshot?" _**Optimus cycled air through his vents. **_"They didn't deserve that... A little restless, but they would've been good soldiers someday."_**

**_"Well, a little digging will let us find out who her parents were, for the sake of curiosity. We had Larkim and Fireshot on file."_**

Optimus nodded. **_"Find out, then... That's excellent work, Ratchet. You should get back to her, now."_**

Ratchet gave a crisp nod. **_"Yes, sir."_**

* * *

><p>Silvercrest sat on the large examination table in Ratchet's med bay, her small knees tucked up to her chassis. Her optics were at half-power as her processor worked diligently, rapidly downloading the data of the English language that Ratchet had just hardwired to her systems. Jazz was next to her, watching her with interest.<p>

_98%...99%...100%_

Her optics came back to full power. "Okay... I'm done."

Her voice sounded similar to that of a young woman, probably from around 12-20, somewhere around there. She supposed that it was going off the fact that in Earth years, she was about 30 years old.

"Did you download the whole Internet? Not just that? You gonna wan' it."

She nodded. "Yep, I got it. I'm not stupid, y'know."

Jazz shrugged. "Jus' lookin' out for ya, baby spark. Sorry."

Silvercrest laughed, knowing he was joking. "Shut up."

Jazz smirked. "No can do..."

"You're not talking now."

"I am now."

"This is pointless."

"I know. By the way, I'm talking now."

"I noticed."

Ratchet appeared in the doorway, an amused look on his facial plates. "I take it you finished your download?"

"By technicality, wasn't it an upload?"

"You sounded so different before you got the entire internet in your head."

"Shut it."

"It's true."

"I will trick you into removing your vocal processor."

"How?"

"It'll come to me. You'll probably be in recharge."

Jazz gave the robotic equivalent of a snort. "Good luck with that."

Ratchet looked self-satisfied. "I hardly ever recharge."

Silvercrest rolled her optics. "Hardly ever isn't never."

Ratchet shrugged, and Jazz appeared deep in thought. After a long moment, he just gave a slightly frustrated huff. "English is a pain in the...ass? Or is it arse? What do they say?"

"I think in the area we will be going to they say 'ass' in replacement for aft."

Silvercrest shook her head. "That is so weird."

"Anyway, speaking of recharge, you need to do so, youngling."

"But, Ratch-"

"You're running on almost a full solar-cycle now."

She groaned. "Fine." As she walked away, she muttered audibly under her breath, "Solar-cycle my ass."

Jazz looked at Ratchet. "She picks up on things real fast. Took me almost six cyber-weeks to get English down. Took her maybe a deca-cycle, and she didn't even have the internet downloaded fully until about a breem ago."

Ratchet shrugged. "She's younger. It applies to most species, you pick up things, especially languages fast, when you are younger."

Jazz nodded.

"She's also very intelligent."

Jazz smiled. "She is."

"She's turning out remarkably well, as anything goes."

"Well, it certainly ain't been easy.", Jazz added.

Ratchet shook his head. "That it hasn't."

Jazz cycled air through his vents. "It's a 'lil funny to think 'bout... By the time we get to Earth, she's gon' be full-grown."

Ratchet smiled slightly. "Yes, this is going to be a _long_ five vorns."

* * *

><p>i hope you like it, idk how good it is, reviews are appreciated, thanks for reading...<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**hi everyone!**

so here is chapter 2, im still a little hazy as to where this goes, so ideas and stuff are always a big help.

thanks for reading.

_thoughts_

_"Cellphone"_

**autobot comm line**

btw, if you didn't notice, I went over chapter 1 and changed something, so you might want to look at that, its at the very end, so don't think i'm stupid, please... :)**  
><strong>

enjoy!

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><p>"Silvercrest, now you. Initiate."<p>

She nodded. "Yes, sir." _Initiate Command Sequence 138754._

As she began to convert to compact form, she offlined her optics, knowing that she wouldn't be needing them until they got to Earth, which would be about another breem. She considered this. _Wow. A whole other planet. _

She jumped.

For a while, all she could feel was a slightly chilly feeling ebbing along all of her outer armor. Her auto-scanners detected it as being -454.667 degrees Fahrenheit, as the Earth-people called it. She still couldn't remember the name of that species. She knew what they looked like, but the name... lumin? Cumin? No, that's not right... Fumin? That sounds...weird... Ugh, she'd have to ask someone sometime...

She felt herself enter earth's atmostphere, and flames surrounded her. Now, it was 2027.876 degrees Fahrenheit.

It may have been painful to some species, but to her, it was a gentle warmth, a slight tickling sensation, nothing more.

'Crest was now very close to the ground, maybe thirty of the...organics 'yards'. She braced herself for the impact.

She slammed into the ground, setting a tree on fire as she did so. She ran a quick full-body analysis, making sure nothing was damaged. Satisfied that she was uninjured, she laid, resting, for a moment, before she began to revert to regular form.

_Initiate Command Sequence 238754._

Silvercrest stood, looking around. There were no organics in sight, but that didn't mean that it wasn't going to be a pain in the aft to find anything mobile that she could turn into. A toy of some sort would be useful...

She transferred the coordinates of the place where they'd be meeting up again, this time with the team's scout, Bumblebee, who was apparently not much older than her, about six vorns. She smirked slightly as she remembered the way Ratchet had informed her of this fact.

_"He's taken on an Earth-made alt-form, called a 'Camaro' and he's black and yellow, hence his name. As a scout, he's only about twenty of the humans 'feet' tall. He's about 6.5 vorns old, so about 6 vorns older than you. Which, as it happens to come up, is also in the orthodox range for Spark-mating, but just saying. I mean, I'm not suggesting anything. Primus, you know what I mean."_

'Crest rolled her optics as the Navigational systems began to direct her to the area she was supposed to be headed. As she reached the city, she skirted around alleys, crouching low so no one would see her.

Ratchet had suggested a motorcycle as an alt-form. She was smaller, and slimmer than the others, as being a femme, and had a sleek silver build, and though she'd be the last to admit it, she was a beauty by Cybertronian standards.

She looked out into the street, backing into the shadows, where she was pleased to find she was nearly invisible. She'd like a silver one, hence her name, but it wasn't necessary. However, she did get lucky.

She spotted a silver Buell Firebolt. She rapidly scanned it, and began a new Command Sequence.

_Initiate Command Sequence 115467._

Ten minutes later she sped into an alleyway, coming to a slightly violent halt in an alleyway just as Optimus, Ratchet, Jazz, Ironhide, and a yellow Camaro with two 'humans' in it, that she took to be Bumblebee, pulled up.

The humans, a male and a female, stepped out of Bumblebee's alt-form. Both were covered in a strange liquid matter that made their skin glossy, and earth-matter. She wondered briefly why they'd call their planet 'Earth'. Earth is the ground. It _is_ dirt. Literally.

She paid no attention to the conversation as she idly reverted to original form. Optimus was speaking. She caught the word 'bitches' from Jazz and looked it up on the internet. She heard Ratchet say something about mating, and looked up human mating. She made a face, softly muttering, "Ew." She regretted trying to learn about humans species.

Ratchet glanced down at her. She looked back at him with wide optics.

**You looked up mating, didn't you. **It wasn't a question.

**Yeah.**

**Scarred for life?**

**Yeah.**

Ratchet nodded. **I wish I never did that. It so much...messier than Spark-matng.**

**I know! I'm glad I'll never do that. Well, I don't plan on it.**

He gave her a look. **I hope not.**

She looked back to the humans, suppressing a chuckle.

Silvercrest looked at the pair. She could tell they required recharge, however the humans did that, and refueling. She wondered briefly how the humans recharged and refueled, but stopped herself from looking it up.

_Not gonna go down that road again..._

**What are their designations?**

Ratchet looked back at her, slightly exasperated. **You haven't been listening?**

**Not really.**

**The male is Samuel Witwicky. The female is Mikaela Banes.**

**Those are really weird designations.**

**They do things a little differently in different galaxies. **

**Oh, haha.**

She severed the comm link before he could reply. He looked at her sharply and then crossed his arms in a gesture that sort of said 'fine. see if I care' and proceeded to ignore her.

(IMPORTANT A/N: From this point on, I'm using first person. I'm sorry to suddenly change it, but it's what I'm used to, I keep accidentally reverting to first person without noticing and then having to go back and fix it, I'm not sure if I even got them all... Yeah, that's it... Go back to reading :D)

I looked up at Ratchet.

**So this kid has the glasses?**

Ratchet gave me a self-satisfied smile, and proceeded to sever the comm link. I gasped in indignation and noticed that we were leaving, and began to revert to alt-form, while commencing the Command Sequence to activate my holoform.

Altogether, I was pretty pleased with my holoform. She had a petite build, dark hair, bright blue eyes that had a slight glowy quality, and a slim face. There was some muscle, but like me, she was built more for speed than strength. She had dark skin, and was most likely what the humans called Latina.

That was a downside of the motorcycle. A riderless motorcycle was obvious, I needed a holoform at all times. The rest of the team didn't necessarily need them, especially not at night.

I shrugged it off and tried to control my speed, because Ratchet would kill me if I hit him. Bumblebee was right behind me, and I was behind Ratchet.

Bumblebee is kind of cute. I'm sure a human wouldn't see it, but by Cybertronian standards, he really is. As a scout, he has a small build, but he's still a little taller than me, and definitely larger. But, I'm beginning to think that there isn't even a femme whose smaller than me. On the Ark, there were not too many other femmes, but Arcee, Chromia, and Elita-One, and all three were a little larger than I was, slightly taller, etc, as was Silverbolt.. But I'm also one of the fastest, and definitely the lightest. Cybertronian metal is incredibly light, and very strong.

And, as Ratchet pointed out, he is in my age range. Huh. I'll think about it.

We arrived shortly at the Witwicky residence. Everyone began to revert to original form in the front yard. I considered this, thinking maybe it wasn't wise, but then shrugged and followed suit. Of all people, I'd be the least likely to crush anything, being as small as I was. Optimus was very likely to crush-oh, yeah, see, he stepped on the fountain. The Samuel kid started freaking out, and Optimus apologized. I strangled a laugh, and a soft noise from next to me indicated that Bumblebee was struggling with the same problem.

I glanced over at him. Our optics met for a moment, then I looked back to the rest of the team. There was a rodent-like creature that leaked some strange liquid all over Ironhide's foot. Being Ironhide, he tried to shoot it, but the kid stopped him.

Samuel ran inside the building, and I heard some human voices, than Samuel went upstairs. Optimus turned to Mikaela.

"Perhaps he should find it faster if you were to assist him."

She nodded. "Well, I would, but I have no way to get in there..."

"Why?"

"Well, his parents don't know me. They'd think it was weird if some random chick comes up, asking if she can go to their son's room. They'd think I was some skank trying to rape him. Just saying."

A smile came across my face at Optimus's expression. I kind of liked this girl.

After a moment, he recovered. "Well, you can go in the window."

"Ho-" She was cut off as Optimus picked her up and held her up to let her climb in the window. Samuel helped her in, and I heard them talking, but didn't bother to hone my audio processors so I could listen.

Sam spoke to Optimus at the window briefly;they hadn't found it. After a few moments, Optimus turned around.

"Autobots, fall back."

I turned around, looking for something that I could maybe hide behind. A sizzle sounded to my right and I turned to see a bouncing electrical wire, and Ratchet lying under it, looking dazed.

"Wow! That was tingly! Try that!"

Ironhide scoffed. "Looks fun.", he replied sarcastically, helping the medic up.

I rolled my optics and continued forward, deciding just to stand by the side of the street where the humans parked vehicles, and revert to alt-form. I activated my holoform, and now seeing through its eyes, leaned against my own alt-form, examining the street. A few black cars were pulling up. A bunch of male humans were exiting the cars, entering the house.

Moments later, they returned, dragging out the parents, Samuel, Mikaela, even the rodent-dog.

I opened a comm link with Optimus. **Family being taken. Should I pursue?**

**Can you do so without attracting attention?**

**Yes. I'm sure of it.**

**Than do so. And 'Crest...**

**Yes?**

**Be careful. **

**Always.**

I sped off down the street behind the car that contained the boy and the girl, admiring the feel of my holomatter hair blowing back in the wind. The human sense of touch is very...unique.

I noticed Optimus pin-pointing my location, and therefore, the location of the car. After several minutes, he appeared in front of the car, coming from further down the road. He rapidly transformed, and literally ripped the hood off of the car. I deactivated my holoform and turned to original form.

"Autobots, relieve them of their weapons." I activated my left hand blade, as well as my plasma cannon, aiming at the group. Jazz pulled out his electromagnet, sending every one of the humans petty weaponry to his hand.

What happened next was incredibly strange. We had Samuel and Mikaela. We did. A helicopter came up, and Optimus grabbed them and began to run. They disappeared underneath a bridge, and the helicopter came towards where I was running away from, Ratchet, Jazz, and Ironhide all disappeared over the bridge, and Bumblebee had, but he was coming back.

I spotted Samuel and Mikaela both falling away from the spot where I assumed Optimus had hidden, and Bumblebee skidded under them, catching them neatly.

Suddenly, I noticed something coming rapidly towards me on radar. I hadn't moved before a metal arrow struck me in the arm, rendering the weapons useless, before I could activate my right blade to slash the wire-like rope, another one tangled that arm. I cursed in Cybertronian.

A human voice was reaching my audio processor. "Perfect, now get the other one, the bigger one, he's right out in the open, don't let the small one get away, though..."

Another helicopter came from my other side, tangling up my legs, causing me to drop to the ground. I bristled, but I was sworn to never harm a human. No fragging matter what.

Another wrapped around my legs, and another, a few more tangling my arms to my sides. A bunch of guys approached me with guns aimed and a few began to spray something cold all over me, some kind of ice. I began to feel stiff.

_I hope they didn't get Bumblebee..._

I cycled air through my vents with some difficulty, seeing as they were clogging up said vents, and I gave one last tug on my bindings before my optics were covered in ice.

* * *

><p>My body spasmed as another laser hit my Spark chamber. A high-pitched whine came from something in my systems, I'm not sure that it was even my vocal processor.<p>

"Why are you doing this? Assholes!" I yelped slightly as another hit me.

"Hey, hey, stop, it can talk, people, it can talk."

"I'm not a slagging it." I tried to look around to find the source of whatever fragging aft's voice this was.

I struggled against the bonds. The man ignored my statement.

Another voice spoke up. "Should we undo the straps?"

"_Yes_!" I stated emphatically.

"Of course not, it's a hostile. Why would we free it?"

"What tells you I'm a hostile? I could've fried all your afts when you were very _rudely_ taking me, but I didn't."

"So, you wouldn't harm us?"

"If I could, I would rip your spine from you body and hang it on a chandelier. But I'm not allowed... Though, I have disobeyed orders before... I'm sure Optimus wouldn't be mad for too long."

"Do not untie it!"

"I'm not a slaggin it!"

Once again, he ignored me. "Refreeze it. It's not safe for it to be awake."

The cold returned. As the limbs painfully began to stiffen up, the ice came in through a few air vents, freezing up my systems. Another whine sounded, accompanied by the sound of machinery groaning, and my body temperature regulators went offline. The ice was now painfully cold against my now-frosty metals. A low growl escaped my vocal processor, along with another whine.

My body spasmed slightly, and my systems abandoned attempts at restoration procedures and went into emergency offline.

* * *

><p>okay, I didn't think this chapter was all that good, but I REALLY want to know what you thought, so tell me if it didn't turn out that well, because I don't think it did, I might actually just delete this story, I don't really think that its been very good, but please, tell me what you think!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

hey everyone!

so yeah, shout out to everyone who reviewed, thank you all, i won't be deleting this :)

thats about it, so-

_thoughts_

_"cellphone"_

**autobot comm line**

enjoy!

* * *

><p>Bumblebee whined slightly. He'd never felt so pathetic. These...these tiny little organics, had him trapped. Imprisoned, by a few members of a species that he could crush with two fingers. Not that he would, of course. He was only recognizing the fact that it was possible.<p>

He mentally cursed Megatron for smashing his vocal processor. And again. And again. At least then, he wouldn't go out silently. As if he accepted it. And was alright with it. He didn't, and he wasn't.

Primus, if he hadn't made the slagging oath...

Well, it doesn't really matter anymore. He sent a final glare at the male human who was refreezing him, and shuttered his optics.

The door burst open. Bumblebee didn't look.

"Hey, hey, STOP!"

He snapped open his optics. _Sam!_

He twisted around, trying to see them. The male with the ice was pulled away, and the bonds were pulled off of him. He stood. Sam and Mikaela were both next to the table.

Bumblebee activated his plasma cannon. Those slaggers better stay their sorry afts away from him. Optimus wouldn't be too mad if it was self-defence, would he?

Sam was speaking, but Bumblebee hardly heard him. Where was Silvercrest, then?

"Bee, c'mon, they have the Allspark, Megatron is in the next room, please, put the gun away, they won't hurt you." He gave the boy a grudging look, but obeyed.

They probably already had Silvercrest, then...

Mikaela turned to Sam. "But if Bumblebee's in here, where's...that smaller one, nobody said their name..."

Bee glanced up. They didn't find her?

Sam looked confused. "Who?"

Mikaela took on a facepalm-like expression and slapped Sam upside the head. "They got a different one, I think it was a girl, had a silver Buell Firebolt, as a...like you guys turn into, and was smaller than all the others, Latina...hologram? I don't know what stuff is...called."

Bee nodded emphatically. Sam turned to the guy with grey hair. "Where's the other one?"

"The motorcycle? We lost her."

"What do you mean, lost her?"

"All systems shut down, eyes went dark, we lost her, the ice plugged something up!"

Bee found out that it was possible, actually, to see red. A random voice came through his speakers. "_WHAT?_"

The guy looked uncomfortable. "What?"

Another voice, probably an excerpt from a movie or something, came through,"Where is she?"

"That's class-"

He reactivated his plasma cannon, pointing it at the guys face. He visibly paled.

"I can take you to her."

* * *

><p>The room Silvercrest was in was brightly lit. A few guys were standing around her, making sure she remained frozen. About ten or so scientist-types stood at certain areas, taking notes.<p>

Simmons opened the door. "Alright, she's in here, but she's gone. We've tried everything we can, she's just gone. You probably won't believe it, but I really am sorry."

He received no reply, and fully opened the door to let everyone in.

Bumblebee moved straight to her side. He mentally swore.

**Bumblebee to Ratchet.**

**Bumblebee? Are you alright? Where the slag are you, we can't pick up your signature!**

**I'm fine. It's probably something to do with this slagheap. The Cube is here, as is Megatron, he's frozen right now, though. Electricity's failing, so there's a slight problem. Anyway, I think I can online Silvercrest if I can get the ice out of her inner workings, how can I do that?**

**WHAT?**

**Think, please, these slagging fragheads got ice into her vents, her systems couldn't restore, probably, and went into an emergency shut down. If I can get the ice out, she will probably wake up. Is that correct?**

**Yes, actually. I don't know if you can, though...**

**Why?**

**Well, I could, but I have different programming. Can you channel Spark-heat to your hands?**

**Um...Let me check... Yeah, I can.**

**Really? That's surprising. You're strange.**

**Love you, too, now what?**

**Well, melt it, glitch-head.**

**Oh. Well.**

Bumblebee hesitate for a moment, then placed a hand on either side of her chassis. There was a snap, a crackle, a pop, then the telltale _crick_ of ice shattering, then a few drips, a high-pitched mechanical screech, and her optics suddenly onlined.

**It worked. **

**Did you doubt me?**

**Not really.**

**I was being sarcastic.**

**Well, sorry, I can't tell on a comm line.**

**What's your location?**

**Hoover Dam.**

**Why?**

**Don't head here, I'll be in Mission City soon.**

**Don't forget the Allspark.**

**I'm not that much of a glitch, Ratchet.**

**Sorry. Old habit. You were incredibly forgetful as a Sparkling. Still are, somewhat.**

**See ya, Ratch.**

Bumblebee turned his attention to Silvercrest.

* * *

><p>It was too bright. No, it wasn't, I can't fragging see. Okay. That's better.<p>

I cursed optic recalibration, rolling my head, wincing as ice popped off of my metal. I sat up, shifting every part I had until I was totally ice-free.

I looked around. Bumblebee was crouching next to the table I was on, staring at me with hopeful optics. My sensors told me that he'd filtered Spark-heat to some other body part. He brought me back.

I looked at him. "Thank you."

He shrugged. **I wasn't about to let you die.**

I smiled slightly. **I owe you one. **

He nodded.** If we make it out of this, I'll hold you to that.**

**Deal.**

I looked around the room. There was a bunch of random humans, and then Samuel and Mikaela. I wondered if they had nicknames.

I shrugged it off. "Where's the Allspark? I feel it."

I stood, optics on the two humans.

"It's, like, literally in the next room over."

I scoffed. "Well, we need to get it out, then. This place is a slagheap, won't hold up for five kliks. C'mon."

The boy whispered to the girl. "The hell is a klik?"

She shrugged. I cycled air through my vents. "I think you call them 'seconds'?"

"Oh."

The Allspark was on a corner, arching far up into the air. It was covered in the language of the Primes. I wondered what it said, but didn't dwell on it.

I glanced at Bumblebee. Our optics met for a moment. I nodded slightly. He turned back forward and took a few steps forward. He looked a little hesitant as he reached towards the cube, tentatively placing his hands on it.

A shock of electricity ran through it, and Bee jerked a little, probably having received a shock to his systems. The Cube began to fold in on itself.

"Wow.", I heard someone mutter. I glanced down. Some army-type guy was standing a little ways away from me, staring up at the Allspark.

Bumblebee gripped the now hand-held Allspark, reverting to alt-form. For human work, that's really a sexy car. Just saying.

I followed suit, activating my holoform. Now seeing through her eyes, I brushed some hair out of my face, cracking my neck. I gripped the handles of my alt-form, revving my own engine without having done it? That's weird...

I tuned around and followed Bee out, a few of the armored cars behind me. We caught up to Optimus, Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet after around a meta...um...hour. They noticeably sped up after we joined them, and it was another hour till Mission City.

I deactivated my holoform. An F-22 flew overhead. Detecting a Spark signature I swore. Obviously, the humans detected no such thing, because they'd called an army division called the Air Force, whatever the hell that is.

A smoke bomb was set off, covering the ground in green smoke. Ironhide transformed, as did Bumblebee.

"It's Starscream!"

They began to lift a rusted out abandoned truck as a shield. That would never work.

It was too late to say anything; the plasma missile hit the truck, blowing it to slag. Bumblebee and Ironhide was thrown back, but he stood right up. Bumblebee catapulted off to the left, all of the military-types took cover, and Samuel and Mikaela both were knocked to the ground.

"Frag." I transformed, looking over towards Bumblebee. He dragged himself towards Samuel, who was staring in shock.

I turned towards them.

His legs were severed at the joint.

"Oh, my God... Bee, your legs..."

_Way to state the obvious, kid._

"You're okay, come on, stand up, please, you're okay..."

I took a step towards them. "He can't."

Samuel whirled around.

"He'll be alright, don't worry too much. Ratchet's fixed worse than that. Doc's a miracle worker."

"Are you...are you sure?"

"Trust me. As long as he doesn't take another heavy hit. The frag was Ironhide thinking, using that slagheap as a shield... Grab the Cube, Samuel."

He obliged. Bee relaxed.

"Call me Sam. Everyone else does." I turned, activating my plasma cannon.

"I thought that might be it. Ya don't look like much of a Samuel."

I took a position a little ways in front of Bumblebee, firing at a stubbornly alive Devastator. A car pulled away behind me, and when I looked back, Bumblebee was gone, as was Mikaela. Sam, Ratchet, and Ironhide were racing towards a tall building, and I could just see a few Black Hawks in the distance.

Jazz was gone, God knows where. People were screaming. I vaguely detected Ironhide's voice in the distance. The soldiers were yelling.

"Defensive formation. This isn't going well."

"I'm out of ammo, anyone gotta clip?"

"This isn't fucking working!"

"Fuck, I'm hit!"

"EMP! We lost radio!"

"This is bullshit!"

I released a shaky stream of air through my vents. I can't take Devastator, but I had to do something.

I ran forward dodging plasma discharge. I jumped, shooting as I kicked off a wall. I jumped, twisting slightly in midair to avoid two missiles.

I suppressed a smirk. This, when the only real-life experience I've had were the infrequent attacks on the Ark?

I took jumped over two other shots, growling in frustration. I shot a plasma missile and a cannon shot at Devastator. He dodged one, the other got him in the left side sector of his chassis.

He slouched slightly, but didn't take serious damage. I cursed in Cybertronian, continuing to shoot.

A sudden onslaught of plasma discharges came from behind me, impacting Devastator solidly. Recognizing it as friendly fire, I continued to shoot, reassured now that everyone else was _not_ dead.

One solid shot to the mid-chassis successfully took him down. Whoever was behind me was the one who fired it. I turned around, hoping that it was an ally and not some random rogue that had just stepped in. I seriously doubted it, but hey, anythings possible.

There was tow-truck, which Mikaela was climbing out of, that had Bumblebee on the back of it, deactivating his plasma cannon. A smile broke onto my face plates and I walked back over to them.

**I think I might owe you double now.**

**Why? You were doing pretty good.**

**Yeah, at dodging. My hits weren't doing slag. **

Bee shrugged. **You would've gotten him eventually.**

I rolled my optics. **We can agree to disagree. I think he would've fried my aft in a few cycles.**

He smirked slightly. **If you say so.**

**I do.**

I turned away, looking around me. Mikaela was climbing into the half-collapsed building that the human soldiers were all in. Optimus was visible down the street, fighting Megatron. Ratchet, Ironhide, and Jazz were nowhere to be seen.

I cycled air through my vents.

It was literally about five cycles...ahem...minutes later, but the tides had definitely changed. Megatron was dead, thanks to Sam, Ratchet did a brief check on Optimus and Ironhide. He declared them priority 3 and 4, then instructed me to bring Bumblebee to an empty warehouse a little ways eastward from here that he'd noticed.

As I began to think about how I'd do this, Mikaela approached me.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if maybe I could help? I mean, I might be able to, and if I stay here, I'll just be wandering around doing nothing, so... If you want, I could drive the tow truck."

"You're good with cars, right?", I asked her.

"Well, yeah, I guess, would that do any good?"

"Some. And driving the tow truck would be...really...helplful."

She smiled. "Alright."

* * *

><p>okay, hope you guys like it. and I will take requests for oneshots, if anyone wants to post one, I've been trying to think of a few good ideas, but I don't have any, so, yeah, if you want to message me a request, I'll probably use it... so that's all, thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated. :)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

hey! so here's chapter four... i hope you like it!

_thoughts_

_"cellphone"_

**autobot comm line**

enjoy!

* * *

><p>"The coolant line runs through here, but you see this, its hitting that, it shouldn't be doing that."<p>

Mikaela looked at the recharging Bumblebee's leg. We'd been stuck up in this warehouse for the pasta week and a half. One of Bumblebee's legs was already welded on, and nanites were working to conceal evidence of the welding, and we were working on the other one.

"So, that panel is crooked?"

I was mildly impressed. She picked up on this very fast. "Yeah, actually. Now, can you tell me how we're going to right it?"

"Can it not just be twisted slightly?"

"Correct."

"Okay, then."

Ratchet appeared behind us. "Switch. Jazz is being a pain in the aft."

And so it went. I was teaching Mikaela about Cybertronian anatomy as best I could, thinking back to when Ratchet was teaching me. Of course, my first function was warrior, medic was my secondary, but I could still teach her. Ratchet would probably be better, but he's in one of his legendary post-battle moods, thanks to Jazz.

Speaking of Jazz, I knelt down next to the short mech. Well, I'm one to talk, because he's five feet taller than my own 8 feet. But compared to Ratchets 24 and a half, or more so, Optimus's 35, he is short. Even to Bumblebee's 17 and a half. But, he is Special Ops.

As I began to mess with some of the wiring on his inner panels, and Mikaela began to do the same on the opposite side of the chassis, I muttered to him,"Ratchet says you were being a pain in the aft. You know how he gets."

Jazz rolled his optics. "Is that why he sent you in? He probably knew I wouldn't make a point of annoying you."

I shook my helm. "Well, you can trust that I'll make a point of annoying you."

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't annoy me."

"That's what Sparklings do best. Although, as I've pointed out on many occasions, I'm not a Sparkling anymore."

"You'll always be one to me."

"Alright, then, old-timer. Turn over."

It went on like that, swapping places, allotting time for sleeping/recharging. Mikaela left for about fifteen minutes every day to grab food from an area a little ways away that was in good enough...condition for a few stores to be open to get food. Ironhide and Optimus showed up at one point, and both were given an energon shot, a few minor treatments and a sentence to a twelve hour recharge.

Sam was, apparently, still off in the main battlefield with Optimus, Ironhide, and the army-types. Mikaela seemed to miss him somewhat. She'd taken to listening to her iPod, which turned out to be a portable music playing device, while working, unless she was being spoken to. Bumblebee was soon completely repaired, and Jazz was about half-way there, no pun intended.

And that's how we got _here_.

I'm sitting on a barrel, Bee having pulled one up next to me. Mikaela's sitting on the floor. Bee and I were both listening to her iPod. She was using headphones, but, Primus, the human sense of hearing is so weak, we can hear it clearly.

_'It liter'ly feels like a life-time ago,_

_But I still remember this shit like it was just yesterday, though...'_

The humans had very strange music.

_'But where the fuck are they now?_

_I don't need none of 'em no more,_

_All I see is Slim._

_Fuck all you backstabbers,_

_All I need is him!'_

Bee and I exchange a confused look. Very strange music...

A new song starts, this time with a female singer, but I'm no longer paying much attention.

"About slagging time!" Ratchet suddenly bursts out.

"What?", I ask.

"I can finally start welding.", he replies, activating a blow-torch.

"It's about slagging time!"

"Exactly."

As Ratchet set about his task, I send Mikaela to go recharge, okay, sleep, whatever. She had not done so in about fifteen hours, which is abnormal by human standards.

As Mikaela grudgingly settles down on the mattress on the floor in one of the darker corners of the room (I noticed she fell asleep almost immediately), I cycle air through my vents, feeling slightly nostalgic all of a sudden. Huh. That's weird.

Bee nudges me. "Something on your processors?"

I shrug. "Not really. I just got this weird feeling all of a sudden."

Bee raises his eye ridges. "That's strange."

I nod. "It is."

He glances around, searching for a new topic. In the end, he just shrugs and didn't speak at all. I suppress a smirk, pulling another barrel up behind me so that I could lay back, leaning on the joint.

Ratchet cycles air through his vents. "Done. Now, it's up to him." He stands, turning towards us. He does a brief scan on the both of us, and then orders,"Recharge, both you of."

Neither of us move.

"Go, you're both running on twenty-five hours."

Bee and I meet optics for a moment. I roll mine. He suppresses a laugh.

I chuckle slightly, and follow him over towards the corner Mikaela is passed out in. I sit in the most comfortable position possible, leaning against the wall. Bee sits next to me. I initiate a system shut down, as Bee does the same.

My senses slowly dim into non-existence, and my consciousness steadily fades.

* * *

><p>I slowly pull out of recharge about seven hours later. My optics come to half, then full power as my systems began to double-check the automatic reboot.<p>

I notice a light weight on the top of my helm, and wonder briefly _what _my helm was resting on. I gradually pull away from whatever it was, and turn back to look at it.

I slap a hand over my lip components to strangle a LOUD gasp. Oh, Primus, Ratchet is probably laughing his aft off 'cause of that, and I'd bet that he'd of called Ironhide to look at it... I also wouldn't put it past him to send a picture to Arcee...

For the past seven hours, I had been in deep recharge with my helm on Bumblebee's shoulder plating, and his helm on top of mine. I buried my helm in my hands. Primus, I'll never live it down.

I glance at Bee. He's still in recharge, head now tilting downward, his chin touching his chassis. His optics are offline and the shutters are half-down.

I smile slightly. He can kick serious ass, but he's also absolutely adorable.

I stand up. Mikaela stirs slightly. I walk as quietly as possible around the stacked crates in the middle of the warehouse, towards the front. Jazz is sitting up, and Ratchet is leaning against the wall. They're talking softly. Jazz's welding looks noticeably better.

Both mechs turned as I walk in. Jazz chuckles slightly, putting his visor down in an attempt to hide it. Ratchet raised a ridge.

"Have a nice recharge?", he asks, a little too innocently.

I roll my optics. "Shut up, I wasn't online."

Ratchet grinned. "I don't know why your so defensive! There's nothing to be ashamed of, he's not too much older than you..."

I give him a look. "It's not like that."

Jazz comes out with the robotic equivalent of a snort. "But you want it to be."

"This is pointless.", I mutter, jumping up to sit on a crate.

"Oh, come on, even I'll admit he's a good-looking mech, and I wouldn't even go for him!"

I laugh. "Nice, Jazz."

There's a soft cough, and Mikaela slightly awkwardly comes in, looking as if she feels supremely out of place. After a moment, however, I realized that she looked awkward because Bumblebee is right behind her.

_Holy. Slag._

I release a high-pitched squeak, dropping my helm to my hands. "No, no, _no..._"

Jazz and Ratchet burst into laughter, a loud clang telling me that Ratchet fell over.

I stand abruptly. "I'm going on a walk. Anyone wanna come?" I glance around. Mikaela steps forward.

"I'll go."

I nod. "Alright. Be back in a lil bit."

* * *

><p>i know this is a weird ending, and it's hella short, so sorry about that, but I'm waiting for something to arrive, and i kind of need it to be able to write the next chapters, it will be here soon, so it won't be too long of a wait...<p>

please review, etc... thanx for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

hey, so here is chapter five...

i haven't updated in a while, sorry about that! i was working on my other story.

I'm gonna try to make this a little longer than previous ones... btw, in this story, foreheads touching is like a cybertronian kiss...just so you know.

_thoughts_

_'song lyrics'  
><em>

**autobot comm line**

enjoy!

* * *

><p>I stare upwards as I listen to the very soft sounds of Mikaela attempting to suppress her laughter. <em>Primus, please kill me now...<em>

I glance down at the girl. "I admit that if this was someone else, it would have been funny. But picture if it was you."

She falls silent and I raise a ridge. She makes a face. "Ouch..."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, that just kind of surprised me, you and Bumblebee just acted...I don't know how it works with you guys, but you guys acted kind of the way that _we_ act when we're...like..._together_. Ya know?"

"Vaguely. I am...new, obviously, to human custom."

"Well, duh." She hesitates. "If you don't mind me asking..."

"I most likely will not."

She nods. "So, how _does_ it work with you guys?"

"Relationships?" She nods again. "Well, when a mech finds a femme that that he has a physical attraction to, they do not act on it as your kind does. You do not _know_ when you find your Sparkmate. We do, in a way. It is part of the mech's programming to be more attentive to that particulat sense, at least, to detecting it. It is not always correct, but we realize this quickly, under most circumstances. When we find our Sparkmate, we _feel _it. It is not always certain. Sometimes, the feeling is mistaken. It usually is not. The mech has the core programming to detect it, so there is usually a courting process so that the mech can properly convince a femme that... Well, do you understand?"

"I...think so."

"How does it work with your species?"

She laughs. "We can never tell if we find a 'soulmate'. I don't know if they even exist. We date whoever we're attracted to, and if we really like them, we'll get married. Sometimes, it doesn't work out, and you have to break off the marriage, it's called a divorce."

"That is...less than efficient."

"Yeah, maybe. But it's the only way."

"And you are...attracted to Sam, correct?"

"Somewhat. He's really nice. Kind of a geek, but that might not be a bad thing."

I quickly research 'geek', not wanting to have to ask her. I nod.

She sighs. "I don't want to have to make the first...real...move. You know?"

"I guess I understand. I have never had to..."

"Yeah. Do you have a...um..."

"A Sparkmate?"

"Uh, yeah, that. If you don't mind me asking..."

"It is fine. I do not have a Sparkmate. There was only a handful of mechs close to my age aboard the Ark, and none of them...were right."

"The Ark?"

"Our ship."

"Oh."

We fall into a brief silence. I vent my intakes. "Do you wish to return to the others?"

"You mean, back to the warehouse?"

"Or back to Prime and the others. Either."

"I don't care. I mean, I wouldn't mind seeing Sam again..."

"Would you like to return, then?"

"Will you stay there?"

"No...I do not believe I will. I would like to make sure Jazz is alright, even if it means..." I vented my intakes. "I would have to inform Ratchet and the others anyway. If neither of us return, they would most likely worry. There are still some...creatures, per say, that came into existence when Sam dropped the Allspark that are still online.."

"Huh. So... What are we doing?"

"If you wish, I can take you back to the main...camp, and then return to the warehouse."

"Um...sure, I guess."

I nod and transform.

* * *

><p>I dropped Mikaela off with the others. I stand outside of the warehouse, hesitant to enter. I press my lip components together. I have to do this <em>sometime...<em>

Does sometime have to be right now?

I sit down just outside the door. I really don't want to go in there. I'm scrambling my Spark signature, so hopefully they don't know I'm here...

I cycle air through my vents. _Primus..._

Resting my helm in my servos, I groan softly and stand up. I proceed to stare at the door with apprehension.

I can always comm Ratchet...

I scoff. No. I will _not_ comm Ratchet. I am not going to succumb to embarrassment.

However, I also am not going to go in just yet. I just...ahem...don't feel like it.

My thoughts are broken into by the slightly overly loud voice of Bumblebee coming from inside.

"_Primus, _fine!"

I hear footsteps, and I move back slightly, worrying that someone might be coming outside.

Sure enough, the door opens to easily reveal Bumblebee, whose bright yellow paint contrasts harshly to the dim light. He closes the door behind him and cycles air through his vents in aggravation.

"Ratchet's a slagging..." He trails off. "I can see you, y'know."

I huff and step forward.

"Next time, you might want to offline your optics. Just a hint."

Although I'm trying to be annoyed, the statement brings a smile to my face plates. "I'll try that."

He nods. "Have you been sitting here this whole time?"

"No, I brought Mikaela back to everyone else... I just got here not too long ago."

"That's strange, we didn't even notice..."

I smother a smirk. "Really?"

He gives me a searching look. "Yeah..."

I vent my intakes. "So...what's up?"

"Ratchet told me to come out here because... Well, I think you hit your head on something, and Ratchet was working on Jazz, he told me to find out what it was..."

I shrug. "It was probably me. I didn't notice anything around here..."

"Yeah."

I sit back down, leaning once more against the side of the warehouse. He sits beside me. Neither of us speaks for a moment.

"You grew up on the Ark, right?"

I glance over at him. "Yeah. It was an...interesting experience."

He laughs in a slightly cynical manner. "Yeah. I was onlined about a vorn before we left Cybertron."

"I was onlined about a quarter vorn before we left."

"Your creators still on it?"

I don't respond for a moment. "Ah, no, actually... Ratchet and Ironhide found me in the wreckage of Tyger Pax."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

I shrug. "I don't remember them all that well. You know how it is."

The Cybertronian processor doesn't 'forget'. Old memories fade slightly, prominent ones remain clear, but all can be restored in a very simple procedure.

Bee nods. "Yep. I don't really remember my creators either. Both of them were Autobots..."

I rest my head on the wall, tilting it to look up at him. He's staring off into space, clearly lost in thought. I exhale.

Suddenly, he turns to look at me. His optics bore into mine. "Silvercrest..."

My body temperatures start to rise. "You can call me 'Crest."

I touch the fore-front of my helm to his. Just for a second. A powerful shock travels down from the spot. I lean back into my original position, pressng my lip components together.

His optics are wide. A twinkle appears in them. He appears content as he leans back against the wall.

"So...", he begins,"Do you want to go back inside?"

I shrug. "Not really."

I notice that his optics portray most of his emotions. He looks...happy.

"Neither do I."

* * *

><p>Ratchet sighs as he deactivates the blowtorch. Jazz looks a little better, but he can tell that he's not completely fixed.<p>

"Well, you're good for now."

"For now?"

Ratchet smiles grimly. "For now."

"Where are..."

"Bumblebee and 'Crest? No idea."

"Huh."

Ratchet doesn't reply, simply running another scan.

"Am I gonna..."

"You'll be fine." _I hope..._

Jazz sighs "If you say so."

The door opens. Silvercrest appears, followed almost immediately by Bumblebee. She's fidgeting with her servos, looking a little...guilty. Ratchet raises a ridge, glancing over at Jazz, who is smirking slightly as Bumblebee tries (and fails) to appear...casual.

"Where's the girl?"

'Crest glances us. "Oh, she wanted to see Sam, I took her back..."

Ratchet nods. "Alright. How's your shoulder?"

She glances down at it. "It tingles a little, but it's fine."

"It _should_ do that. And _your_ leg struts?"

Bee shrugs. "I don't know. I can walk?"

"Well, _that _can't be a good sign.",Silvercrest mutters sarcastically.

"Knew it."

The shot that Silvercrest had taken to the shoulder while fighting Devastator was now just a rapidly shrinking indent in her armor. The weld-marks on Bumblebee's leg struts were now just faint lines, as if they'd been drawn on.

Ratchet rolls his optics. "Well, this 'walking' thing aside, I think you'll be okay. None of us have ever _heard_ of it before, so just keep your visual sensors online, okay?"

'Crest laughs, and Bee salutes him. "Will do, Doc-Bot."

Ratchet shakes his helm, turning away from the pair to find Jazz struggling with laughter. His ridges shoot up. "How mature of you."

"Since when have _I_ been known as 'mature'?"

Ratchet shrugs. "I don't know... Maybe when you graduated?"

"Please. Half the 'bots the Academy spits out don't know the first or the second or any other thing about fighting."

"Obviously. Sentinel Prime is proof of _that_."

* * *

><p>The day after that, after a brief flare-up, as Ratchet puts it, in Jazz's predicament, the TiC is declared fit for duty and we leave the city. We will be escorting Megatron's shell to a vessel that will be departing from San Diego, and then to the Laurentian Abyss, which is where it will be dropped. Optimus has temporarily handed over the shard of the Allspark to a few scientists. We will retrieve it afterwards, but we do not want it anywhere <em>near<em> the offline Decepticons.

We depart soon afterwards, having only to wait for said scientists to arrive. We pull out, heading west towards San Diego, which is a city in southern California.

I am slightly ahead of Optimus, in between the lanes, and he is in front of Bumblebee, and in between Ironhide and Ratchet. They begin to converse on the comm line.

**I think it may have been unwise to leave the shard with those humans.**

**We only just left. We can still retrieve it, if you want us to.**

**I think...that that would be best. Human scientists, so far, seem to be a little..._too _exploratory, when it comes to some things. And Professor Vine worked with Sector 7...**

Bumblebee cuts in. **I'll go.**

**Alright. You probably are fastest. Silvercrest, accompany him.**

**Okay.**

I pull back and switch around a U-turn, pulling up just behind Bumblebee.

He activates a private comm link. **Don't bother trying to keep up...**

I can literally feel a smile over the link. **I won't have to try. Don't hurt yourself, eh?**

I pull even with him my holoform smirking slightly. He speeds up. I do, too.

**Not bad. You know, for someone who isn't me.**

**Oh, really? Well, you're not doing bad, you know, for having an engine like _that_. **I have a feeling that would get to him.

**You're gonna get it.**

**Then why am I in front of you?**

I sever the link, grinning wickedly at the Camaro. Bee speeds up, pulling slightly ahead of me. I draw even.

**They have limits on the speed here, and I don't think the...those people with the cars like Barricade would really like pulling over a car with no driver. And, we don't have any Earth currency.**

Bee slows down, and I do as well, remaining just next to him. His holoform activates, a young blonde guy, and he glances at me. "I still win."

I roll my eyes and ignore him, not wanting to really go there. Because...it would kind of go back and forth for light years...

We arrive back at the bast not too long afterwards, only to find that it isn't as we left it.

There is the broken corpse of a Decepticon, Wreckage, I think, lying just outside a plane. Starscream is rampaging around, killing every human that enters the range of his visual sensors. I curse, activating my cannon.

Bee already has his own weaponry out, rushing forward, shooting the occasional plasma discharge.

A few humans are running towards us. I shoot, but if anything can be said about Starscream that _isn't _an insult, it's that he's tough. I hear Bumblebee yelling to the approaching group.

"Taker cove- Agh!" I glance over. Bumblebee is now on the ground, injured, but still attempting to shoot. Starscream shoots him again. I growl. Only a punkass Decepticon fights as dirty as that. Attacking the weakened opponent.

"Hey, Shitstream!", I yell up to him, "How 'bout you come over here, and fight like a mech?"

He was suddenly, like, _right _in front of me. I replaced my cannons with Energon blades and started to regret my insult. Starscream is a little taller than Ratchet, and much larger, whereas I am about fifteen feet tall. My opponent is probably about two and a half times my size.

Bee is nearly in stasis, moaning slightly with the occasional cough-like noise. I begin to take on SiC.

I block a blow, the force enough to do a little damage in itself, and aim a hit at his knee. He hits my arm, causing me to miss. It continues on like this for a few minutes before I land a considerable hit on his lower chassis, and he backs off, and being the _Deceptiscum_ that he is, he doesn't want to risk anything else and transforms and flies off. I turn to Bumblebee, muttering obscenities under my breath.

"Bee! Are you alright?"

He can't talk much, his vocal processor is sparking wildly, it has been damaged again. He speaks haltingly, an incredulous tone edging his voice.

"He would've...'illed all o...humans. He wa...ll all of the... I wonde...killed Wrecka..."

I kneel by him, slipping a servo under his helm. He looks up at me. I press my lip components together. "You saved them, though. Did a slagging lot more than I did."

He points at Lennox, who is dragging a badly injured soldier out of the flames. "Not...all..."

I sigh. "Are you gonna be okay?"

He nods. "He jus...motion components, and the...cal processor... It jus...fixed, too..."

I smile slightly. "Ratchet will be pissed..."

"You nee...the shard..."

"Okay, be back in a little bit. Stay here, yeah?", I tell him sarcastically as I stand up. He gives me a withering look but laughs slightly.

I walk over to the cluster of soldiers and scientists who survived. I address Captain Lennox. "Is the shard safe?"

He shrugs. "I have no idea. Vine had it, and Vine is dead."

I suppress the urge to snap at him; I know that my irritation isn't directed at him. It's mainly just at this whole slagging day, what with Bee hurt again, the shard missing (at least for the moment), the Decepticons... I sigh. "Well, I need to look for it. With any luck, it's underneath Wreckage's shell..."

He nods. "We can help, to some degree."

I nod slightly in return. "Alright."

Bee addresses me over the comm. **Do they have it?**

**No. Vine had it, and he's dead. We're gonna have to look for it, I'm hoping it's underneath Wreckage.**

**Starscream could've...**

**It's possible, but I kind of doubt it. If that was what he was here for, he would've just grabbed it and left. But he didn't leave until he was hurt.**

**Well, good luck. I would help if I could move.**

I smile grimly. **Well, the humans want to help. If it's here, we'll find it pretty soon.**

I walk over to Wreckage. He's completely offline, a few injuries still sparking. I ignore it as I scan it over and over, not detecting the fragment.

The soldiers and looking around by the sides, trying to see if it's underneath it. I sigh. "Okay, I've never been too good at the heavy lifting..."

I slide my servos underneath the side of his chassis, pressing my lip components together harshly. I slipped back a little bit, my back foot sparking against the asphalt, but I successfully flipped the offline Decepticon over.

And sure enough, the Allspark shard was underneath him. I sigh in relief, picking it up and clutching it tightly. I look over at Bee.

**I've got it.**

**Well, that's good.**

I stride back over to him and examine his locomotion components. They're not too badly damaged, just burnt. I hesitate, then activate a nanite enhance. My primary function is as a warrior, I was training under Prowl as a Cyber-Ninja when we left for Earth, and I'll most likely continue that. However, I also trained for a short period of time under Ratchet, and I have a few tools that a field medic would take for granted.

They don't heal completely, but the nanites speed up considerably and the burns nearly disappear, enough so that he isn't immobile. He gingerly stands up, a slight limp in his gait. 

**I guess I'm back to radio...**

I smile slightly sadly. "That sucks."

He shrugs. A random song comes on. _'It's not so bad...'_

"You commed Optimus, right?" He nods. "What are they doing? We have another Decepticon to drop."

A random female voice suddenly screamed,"_THEY'RE COMING!_" I laugh.

"Alright! No need to be so enthusiastic about it..."

He looks indignant. I smile sweetly. He glares.

I roll my optics. "You know you love me."

He rolls his own optics, replying over comm.

**Well, at least I don't have to tell Ratchet about all the knew repairs he has to make...**

My face plates take on a horrified look. "Oh, _Primus, _you're right..."

He looks satisfied. I glare at him.

"You've been _planning _this!"

His optics go wide. He takes on an indignant posture, gesturing animatedly.

**Me? _Planning? _I don't know the _meaning _of the word!**

I raise a ridge. "I think you just insulted yourself."

He face-palms.

* * *

><p>okay...so this was a little longer than normal, as promised.<p>

i hope you guys liked it, please review...etc...

Thanks for reading!**  
><strong>


	6. Chapter 6

Hey! so here is chapter six, I'm typing this on a used Mac that is now mine :) it's so much FASTER than my old CPU, but the new keyboard is also an old one that isn't by apple, and its really weird... Like, I kinda have to physically exert myself to press the keys... oh well.

anyway...

_Thoughts_

**Autobot comm line**

enjoy!

* * *

><p>I had managed to temporarily fix Bee up, but the rest of the work is left to an incredibly irritable Ratchet, who is grumbling almost non-stop about how he <em>just <em>did this, and something about 'stupid younglings'. He's probably going to injure Bee more than he fixes him.

So far, he hasn't noticed that Bee is unable to speak. And Bee, needless to say, cannot tell him.

It isn't until Optimus comes over for a debrief that anyone really noticed. The sparking had stopped, by then, and Ratchet is in far too much of a bad mood to be anything but happy that Bee wasn't speaking.

So, right now, Optimus is watching Bee slightly expectantly, and the scout looks to be at a loss, and thoroughly frustrated.

I step forward, deciding to not laugh at him for any longer. Don't judge me, you would've too!

_Bumblebee, is this shot or did you fall? The metal's crushed... If you don't answer, it's your own loss, it'd make my job a slagging lot easier. Whatever..._

I wrestle a smile off of my face. "Um, he can't talk."

Optimus raises a ridge. "Is it his vocal processor?"

I nod. "Starscream damaged it with a plasma blast."

Ratchet looks annoyed. "And I just slagging got it fixed!" He raps Bee's helm with a wrench. Bee winces.

I struggle with a smirk, eventually forcing it to slag off. Optimus looks at me.

"Well, you were there was well, 'Crest. What happened?"

I shrugged. "When we got there, Wreckage's shell was on the ground next to Starscream, and Starscream just started shooting when he saw Autobots. We shot back, he took Bumblebee down, and I insulted him, so he got all up in my face, and I stabbed him, and he flew away... They never stick around when we get the upper hand. They're such _cowards!_"

"_Wreckage?_ Did the humans manage to offline him?"

I shrug. "Lennox says no. I asked. They said Starscream did it..."

"Starscream?" Optimus puzzles over this for a moment, before he's interrupted by a pained-sounding whine from Bee. He rolls his optics. "Go easy on him, Ratchet."

The CMO glanced up. "I am."

"Easi_er, _then."

"I'm going about as easy as I am able to. Stay _still_, kid!" He smacks Bee's helm with his wrench.

Optimus face-palms. I smother a giggle. Bee starts to try to lift his servo to his helm. Ratchet raises the wrench threateningly.

"I said _still._"

* * *

><p>It all seems to be calming down. Megatron is dead, Starscream went back to Cybertron (we think), the only Allspark fragment left is sort of safe, it would be better if it wasn't under human protection. Well, the 'Cons don't know where it is. All we really have to do now is weed out any 'Cons remaining on Earth. We can't exactly leave this planet to be eradicated by a bunch of dumb-shit glitches that <em>we <em>lead to _their _planet.

Well, Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Jazz are going to be doing that. We've formed an alliance with their government, albeit an uneasy one, and they are going to be living on the NEST base on the island Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean. Bumblebee and I, however, have different tasks.

I've been assigned as guardian to Mikaela. I don't mind, I mean, I wouldn't _mind _kicking Decepticon ass with the others, but they think I'd be a better _friend _to Mikaela, as well as being capable of protecting her. Bumblebee is remaining guardian to Sam. Since they're dating, I probably will get to see Bee. So I won't be totally bored.

Mikaela isn't bad, either. Sam is going to be going off to college, soon. Mikaela is kind of upset about it. She doesn't have too many friends from her high school any more, and she doesn't think long distance relationships will work. She's been trying to act a little bitchy to Sam, so that he'll stop trying to convince her to not break it off. Human relationships are so strange.

I mean, four stellar-cycles? That isn't very long. Well, by human standards, I guess it is. And apparently, there are a lot of other femmes at college. And it is orthodox to mate. A lot. So odd...

So, right now, I am in my alt-form, basking in sunlight. Mikaela's father, Colin, doesn't understand why she always leaves her 'motorcycle' sitting around in the sun. He says that it just makes the metal, and the leather, too hot to touch. He never interferes, though. Thankfully.

I have half-an-optic on Mikaela, who is leaning over a motorcycle, carefully painting a devil. Her bluetooth is in her ear, and she's speaking. She puts down the paint, and stalks over to lean on the hood of a car. She converses with Colin for a moment, then taps her bluetooth and runs inside, most likely to change. Sure enough, about ten minutes later, she reappears, now in a white shirt and leather. She walks over to me.

"You up for a ride?", she asks quietly.

I rev my engine in response. She smirks slightly. "I have to say goodbye to Sam."

I vent my intakes, before responding very quietly,"Well, let's go."

She climbs on, donning a black helmet, grasps the handlebars, and I speed off.

When we pull up in front of the Witwicky residence, it looks...um...

Mikaela runs over to Sam. The yard is a wreck, the fountain scorched and crumbling, the grass is smoldering slightly in some places. Sam's room is basically...blown...to shit. The house is caved in there, the the wood scorched and smoking, a few small fires in place.

I open a comm link with Bee, who is most likely in the garage.

**What the slag happened?**

**What? Why?**

**The Witwicky place is...kind of...a slagheap, right now...**

**Oh, well. Sam got attacked... I may have...accidentally...done that while I offlined...the kitchen.**

**Um?**

**The electronics, in their kitchen? They all...got brought to life. I don't know how. But I got rid of the ones in the yard, there were still a few up in Sam's room, and I wasn't really thinking about it. I kind of...**

**Blew it up?**

**Yeah.**

I smother a laugh, knowing that the fire department guys would think it was really weird if a motorcycle started laughing.

**Mad skills.**

**I know, I'm awesome. **

**So, are you going with Sam?**

**I think so. It'll be so AWESOME.**

I suppress a sigh. Motorcycles don't sigh, either. I would miss Bee. A lot.

**Cool... That's...awesome.**

**Are...you okay?**

**No, I'm fine... Why?**

**You just sounded...kinda weird.**

**Well, I'm fine.**

**I wish Mikaela was coming, too. Then you'd go with her... **

**Oh...yeah, she doesn't want to leave her dad by himself...**

**Yeah.**

**So... Other than blowing up houses, what do you _do_ around here? Is it boring?**

**It's not _always _that bad. It is a little small in here.**

**That sucks... I'm usually outside. It's a little boring sometimes, but it's not cramped. Obviously.**

Bee didn't reply for a long moment. I look around idly at all of the cars that the police, and the fire department brought.

**Okay...**

**What?**

**I'm not going. Apparently, freshmen can't have cars.**

**That's idiotic.**

**Well, apparently I'm going back to Diego Garcia. That's what Sam says, at least... I'll have to comm Prime.**

**Wow. That's great.**

**I dunno. I'll probably have to be nearby. I mean, Prime doesn't think he's safe.**

**Well, at least you won't be stuck in that garage all day anymore.**

**I guess. I hope there's a lot of sun there. I love Earth's sun.**

**I know! It's so much closer than Cybertron's!**

**If we ever wind up getting back to Diego Garcia, Ratchet says that by Earth standards, it's very warm there.**

**I wonder if we will...**

**Well, eventually, I guess we have to.**

**I guess so... Are you just staying with Mikaela, then?**

**Until further notice. So, yeah.**

**Oh. Well, have fun with that.**

**Are you... Oh, you are such an aft.**

**I try. **

I feel him sever the comm link. I sigh. Mikaela's music is stuck in the front of my processor. It's frying my circuits...

Mikaela reappears. There are tears in her eyes, and she's pulling on her leather jacket. Sam must be leaving.

**I'll see you 'round. **Bumblebee suddenly added.

**Yep. So, bye?**

**Bye.**

He severs it at about the same moment that I do. Mikaela grasps the handles. I decide to take the long way home.

* * *

><p>I lounge, half-content, on the ground next to a rusted out car in the garage. Mikaela was feeding her dog, Bones. She'd been in a bad mood for a while now. Sam had stood her up on their first web-chat date. She picks up her cell.<p>

"Yes, _Samuel? ..._I can't believe you're gonna stand me up on our first web-chat date! ...What, did you finally hit puberty? ...No, I got it, it's in the shop safe, it's fine... It's fine, nobody knows where it is..."

Suddenly, I pick up something strange on my audio processor. I stand up.

_"I do... You're hot, but you ain't too bright... Ow! Frickin' house of horrors... OW! Uh..." _I locate the general area of the source. I move towards it, very slowly.

"Uh, I'm gonna have to call you back. Bye, Sam."

Mikaela appears next to me. "Is everything okay?"

"Do...do you hear that?"

She tilts her head. There's a soft scratching, tiny little ticking...

Her eyes pop open. "Oh, God." She runs over to the safe.

I hear a sharp, mechanical squealing. I rush to her side, cursing the size of this building.

"What are you _doing _here, you little freak?" I sigh in relief. It's just a scrap drone. She blow-torches his optic.

"Easy, warrior goddess, I'm just a- OW! That's my eye, ya crazy bitch!"

"You gonna talk now?"

Without her knowledge, I aim a plasma cannon at him from behind her. His remaining optic goes wide.

"I'm here for the shard, I need the shard, they gonna whack me, I'm gonna be dead without that shard!"

She glares at him, wielding the blow-torch menacingly. "Easy, I'm just a selfish little scrap-drone!"

"Yeah, well, I'm your worst nightmare." She shoves him into a metal box, and slams it shut tight.

I quickly deactivate the cannon. She turns to me. "I need to get on a plane."

I hesitate. Should I let her...

**Silvercrest to Optimus.**

**Yes?**

**Sam called Mikaela, he's in trouble. Mikaela wants to go to him, on a plane. Should I let her?**

I could practically feel him hesitating about it. After a long moment, he replied. **Yes. I believe so. **

**Alright. One moment.**

"Alright. You can access my comm frequency, right?"

"Yeah. If anything happens, I'll call."

"Okay. Do you want me to take you to the airport?"

"Um... No, I don't want to have to bring my helmet."

"Okay. Be safe."

"I will.", she replies, smiling.

**She's going. What should I do?**

**A CV-22 Osprey is being sent to a nearby, secluded location. I'm sending you the coordinates. You'll arrive at our location soon. **

**Okay. See you then.**

**Alright. Bumblebee is also on his way here.**

**Cool. Bye.**

I severe the link, reviewing the coordinates. They were about twenty miles from here. I vent my intakes. "Okay..."

* * *

><p>so, chapter six...i hopeyou liked it...<p>

thanx for reading, please review...:)


	7. Chapter 7

hey, guys! i am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry about the uuber long wait! i was briefly off of my TF-high, but i am back! and i started thinking about this story while i was working on a super long oneshot, and i reread it, and i wanted to clear up a mistake...

so, i mention once that silvercrest is eight feet tall. that's incorrect, she's about fifteen. i also said that, but yeah, wanted to make sure that's clear.

by the way. if any of you are fans of evanescence or the like, and you haven't heard their new album, it is AMAZING. i recommend it.

and with arcee, i actually usually place her with bumblebee, i also usually prefer the TFP Arcee, but in this, she's Sparkmate to Sideswipe. i'm also going to have the arcee make it throught to DotM. I actually was going to kill the Arcee sisters off, because they aren't in dark of the moon, but I couldn't do it, because that would create a whole new problem because i was having them bonded with a few of the team (Elita/Optimus, Chromia/Ironhide, Arcee/Sideswipe) but yeah, i even wrote her death, which i think i will feature as a deleted scene at the end of this chapter. yeah, i just couldn't do it...

also, Elita is not in this story following Optimus's death because in this story, she didn't survive her Sparkmate's death.

also, i don't know anything really about jolt other than in the movies, where he doesn't have a single line, so if he was in one of the cartoons that I never watched, i'm sorry if he's OOC. i'm kind of giving the characters my own spin.

anyway...

_thoughts_

_'song lyrics'_

**autobot comm line**

enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Silvercrest<strong>

Lennox appears next to my alt-form as I roll drowsily out of the Osprey.

"Hey, 'Crest.", he greets me in a strained but pleasant tone, "How was your flight?"

I transform, badly needing to stretch my legs. "Not terrible."

He takes a step back to give himself a better vantage point. "So, Mikaela just left Sam's college?"

I nod my affirmation. "Yes, she received a strange call from him relating to an Allspark shard. I only know what she told me, I did not tap the phone line, and we were interrupted by a Decepticon scrap drone."

He nods grimly. "Most of the Autobots are off-base, doing God knows what, but the Arcee triplets are in the med bay."

"Thank you, I believe I will speak to them..."

He excuses himself and disappears into the moving mass of human soldiers. I sigh, deem it simpler to get around base in alt-mode, and transform once more.

I have the common sense to not move to quickly around the base, which is packed with human males, so it takes me around ten minutes to reach the med bay. Chromia is in stasis on an examination table. Arcee is sitting up on one of the other ones, in perfect working order, watching Chromia. Elita-1 is also in perfectly functional, but she's fallen into an unscheduled recharge on the table on Chromia's other side.

Arcee smiles as I enter, but it has a fatigued quality to it. "Silvercrest!" She slides off the table, landing easily. Arcee is about five vorns older than I. Elita-1 is Sparkbonded with Optimus, as being the eldest. Chromia and Ironhide have been mated for vorns. Arcee is the youngest of the three, and still single. Several of the mechs here have shown an interest in her, but she has yet to make a choice.

I smile. "I heard you were here! Didn't want to get my hopes up, though..." I shrug sadly.

"Oh, we're fine! Well, Chromia took a nasty hit to the shoulder in Shanghai, but other than that, we're fine."

"Where have the other gone? Major Lennox said that they'd left."

"They picked up a few Decepticon signals near Samuel's college. Went to check them out. What are you doing here? I thought you were guarding Mikaela."

I nod. "I was, she went to help Sam. It would have been difficult to make it there myself. Optimus instructed me to come here."

Arcee nods with a sigh. "Anything serious?"

I shrug. "I haven't heard anything since I boarded the Osprey."

She sighs. "That's too bad. C'mon, I'll show you your quarters."

* * *

><p>They just drop his shell. He lands ungracefully, with a loud clatter. My optics narrow.<p>

And then the trucks surround us. They couldn't harm us, at all, but I guess that these ignorant humans don't know that.

We were not completely betrayed, however. Lennox slams a fist on the window of a truck.

"Lower your weapons!"

A younger soldier meets his eyes without hesitation. "We take orders from him."

Galloway climbs out of one of the vehicles, waving a paper in Lennox's face. "NEST team has been deactivated, Major. You are to cease anti-Decepticon operations and return to Diego Garcia, pending further orders."

"Or what?"

"I have operational command now. An _alien blood feud _has been brought to our shores for which our soldiers are paying the price."

Ratchet deactivates his rotary saw. "This fool is terribly misinformed."

I suppress a snort, falling into a brief com link.

**What is he talking about? He sounds a little insane.**

Ratchet rolls his optics. **He's just ignorant, frighteningly so. Pay attention, youngling.**

"...while we explore every possible diplomatic solution."

"Like what?", Lennox spits in reply, "Handing over the kid?"

Galloway hesitates. "All options are being considered."

**How could they do that to one of their own? A _child_?**

Ratchet sighs quietly. **I don't think they will. Calm yourself.**

Graham speaks slightly uncertainly."Whatever the Decepticons are after, this is just the start."

Lennox nods. "There _is_ no negotiating with them-"

"I'm _ordering _you to stand down. You won't be needing this anymore." He tears something off of Lennox's uniform. "Now get your assets back to base, and take that pile of scrap metal back to Diego Garcia."

A burst of curses, directed at Galloway, and the human race in general, burst out from Ironhide's frequency.

"I really don't like that dude.", Epps says slowly, "He's a' ass_hole_."

* * *

><p>I'm stuffed in a plane with Chromia, Arcee, Ironhide, and Sideswipe. Ratchet and Jolt are in a different one with a group of humans, and Optimus's shell is on a plane with the Lennox and his troops, as well as Galloway.<p>

I'm in alt-mode, underneath a net of black rope, shoved up in between Chromia and Arcee. To say it's close quarters in an understatement.

**This is scrap.**

I twist my mirror so that I can see Ironhide. Sideswipe answers from in front of us.

**I know. What ever happened to the Primus-damned alliance?**

**Lennox doesn't mean anything by it**, Arcee interjects, **It's just his orders.**

**From Galloway! I wouldn't do anything that little glitch says to...**, Chromia spits out.

Sideswipe's engine revs. **Well, he's not OUR superior.**

I scoff. **I'm sure that if you asked him, he would be.**

**Yeah, but he has some sort of little bug way, way, _way _up his ass. Just saying**, the Corvette shoots back.

Lennox, who can access our frequency through a headset Ratchet fixed up for him, cuts in briefly. **Galloway just got dropped on his ass in the middle of nowhere. Prepare for landing.**

Arcee's voice comes from beside me. "Um...what?"

Sideswipe transforms, wrestling briefly with his bindings. "Well, that's a relief."

We follow suit. Arcee zips away from us to Sideswipe's side. He grins at her, looping an arm around her waist. I sigh as Chromia joins Ironhide. The two are really close, and I'm pretty sure that they're going to come out with it any day now.

Assuming that we live to see the next few days.

I watch enviously. I'm starting to think I'm going to be alone for, well, ever. I have no idea where Bee and I stand.

It's hot outside. Not that it's uncomfortable for me, actually, this sort of sunlight is incredibly pleasant to me. Perhaps a little distracting, but comfortable.

I look at Arcee. "I'm picking up a slagheap of Decepticon signatures."

She vents loudly. "This is bad. This is very bad.", she moans quietly. "_Primus, _we're going to die. We go down fighting, yes?"

My lip components twist in a smirk. "That's the best way."

A series of Decepticon reinforcements contact Earth's surface, raising a huge cloud of dust. The humans are popping flares for Sam's benefit. I take a defensive stance activating a plasma cannon as the 'Cons start to emerge.

Sides take a position behind a half-collapsed wall, optics narrowed. He turns around, grinning at me.

"This will be fun."

* * *

><p>Shots echo in my receptors. My own Energon is spattering my form as I take hit after hit. I'm not badly hurt, just badly scrapped up. Not deadly...hopefully.<p>

"We need to get together a scout team, look for Sam!"

Ironhide deactivates his cannons. "I'll lead."

"I'll go with him." Arcee and I speak at the same time.

"Alright, Arcee team, Silvercrest, with Ironhide. Come back alive."

A few soldiers jump into the pick-up of Ironhide's alt form. I speed along with them easily.

"Ironhide!"

I glance around. Sam is leaning out of a gaping hole in the wall, and I can see Mikaela behind him. I block the hole, facing away, firing relentlessly upon the incoming 'Cons.

"Get under cover. We'll take you to Optimu-AH!" A white-hot plasma shot strikes me mid-chassis. A clatter and a shout from my right side tells me that Arcee is in a similar position.

Mikaela appears in my line of vision, pushing past Sam. "'Crest!" Her careful training with Ratchet is kicking in, to my horror. Ratchet has...lacking bedside manners. "Don't move, you'll only frag yourself up more. Stay awake, no matter what. We'll get someone here to move you as soon as we can. Pretend to be dead, then the 'Cons won't bother you."

I clench a hand over the wound, feeling hot Energon against my metals. "Just get somewhere safe, huh? I've had worse... Go." I jerk my helm to the side, and she gives me a worried look before nodding and following her mate. Or whatever the hell the humans call them.

Arcee drags herself over to me. "Guess we're in this together, eh?" She vents, a tortured, strangled sound. "Chromia's..."

I look at her. "We'll be okay. Sides won't let you go with them."

She laughs painfully. "Not sure if that's a good thing anymore."

I grunt softly as I shift slightly. She probably doesn't even realize it, but she's reaching out for a sister bond, and it's setting a vicious ache on my Spark, one of a completely different kind than anything the plasma blast could give me. We lock optics for a moment.

I can tell that she isn't going to make it through like this. Arcee's strong, but without Elita and Chromia, she pretty much just lost two-thirds of her Spark. The only reason she's not offline yet is most likely because she's clinging to her Sparkbond with Sideswipe. But if I were to accept a sister bond, she might be okay.

I hesitate as I locate her frequency. It's pushing on my like a physical force. I press my lip components together and allow the barriers built up around my Spark and my processors to capsize for just a moment, letting her in. She vents steadily, her electropulse rate noticeably slowing. Throwing caution to the winds, I push a series of reassuring emotions over the newly formed bond. She relaxes and stabilizes.

I look at the sky, slightly drained. Devastator is climbing up a pyramid that is about to destroy Earth's sun, and I'm stuck lying of my aft, plasma burning a hole in my chest, next to my newly bonded Spark-sister. I vent my intakes.

It could be worse.

* * *

><p>I don't remember falling into stasis, but the next thing I know, I'm in holoform, lying next to my very beat up alt-mode. My own silver alt-mode is just next to a pink motorcycle of the same model, Arcee's alt-mode. She's about as fragged up as I am. I can still feel the burn, but my wounds are much less noticeable now.<p>

Arcee's holoform is lying next to me in the form of a young woman, slightly taller than me, tan and toned, with dark blonde hair. Her eyes are just a bright blue as any of us, and she's sitting up, looking at me. I push myself to my feet, holding out a hand to help her up as well.

A huge explosion rocks the Earth, and I catch a glimpse of an organic's body flying through the air. My Spark nearly freezes when I hear Mikaela scream his name.

"SAM!"

I drag Arcee back to her feet. She groans slightly but offers no further complaints. I race towards the noise, my hand clasped tightly on her arm.

"_Fucking do something!_" Mikaela is screaming at Lennox, who hesitates and then starts applying synchronized bursts of pressure to Sam's chest.

I kneel beside her. A mournful, mechanical whine comes from just behind Lennox, attracting my attention. Bumblebee is leaning against the rock, staring worriedly at the resolutely unconscious Sam.

A team of human medics lean over him, sending electrical shocks into his body. His creators are screaming his name. The team backs off. A lost cause.

"Sam...

Mikaela is begging him to come back, tears mixing with mascara is they stream down her face. The remainder of the Matrix is flying out of his hand, swirling next to him like sand.

But it's not just swirling. It twists around, ringing slightly as it reforms itself before our eyes. Mikaela leans back, eyes wide, and suddenly, Sam jerks violently, sitting upright.

I sigh in relief, dropping back away from her. Arcee is behind me, conversing quietly with Sideswipe. He's on his knees, nearly at eye-level with her holoform, but not quite. I turn around, brushing my holomatter hair out of my face. I roll my shoulders. I hope that the repairs on my alt-mode don't take very long. I would hate for this to be my only mobile form.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts. Optimus has been brought back online. A smile breaks out on my face. Perhaps we aren't all going to be fragged.

In a matter of seconds, a Decepticon appears in front of Optimus. He's gigantic, larger than Megatron. He strikes the already-weakened Optimus down with ease, and disappears. I look longingly at my alt-form. The Fallen. Only a 'Con would fight that dirty.

There's nothing that I can do to help like this. I've never been happier that I'm not human. To be in this form is to be...well, defenseless.

"Optimus, get up, you gotta get up, he's turning on the machine! He's gonna kill our sun!"

Optimus is groaning softly. He's trying, it's not arguable that he's trying. But he just came back from the dead, and took a hit from the Fallen, like, all at once. That's a hell of a day.

I press my lips together as I watch everything play out. Arcee appears by my side.

"Sideswipe's pissed at me." She looks around, and judging by the influx of panic that I feel from her, she realized what was going on. "What the f-"

She's cut off by a loud clatter as Jetfire tumbles to the ground. Her lips press together. "What's...happening?"

"The 'Cons are trying to turn on the machine..."

She looks at Optimus, Ratchet, and Jolt. "Look at all that slag. I think he has a chance."

"Really?", I reply sarcastically. Rather comically from a distance, Optimus dislodges the Fallen from the pyramid. Megatron and Starscream fly away, cowards as they are. Threat seemingly diverted, I look at Arcee. "What's up with Sides?"

I know it's a weird time for girl talk, but until Ratchet is starting up the temporary sick bay, we have nothing to do. Hell, we might not even be able to help then, because our alt-modes need repairs as well.

She sighs. "Well, not so much pissed, just worried. But with him, that comes out as anger. Which sucks."

I nod slightly. "I know, right? I mean, when you already got hurt, the last thing you need is everybody pissed at you..."

She nods emphatically. "I apologized for everything that I felt deserved an apology, but-" She stops, gritting her teeth. "But I guess that's not enough."

She's upset, I can tell. She sound close to tears. "I'm sure he'll get over it. He usually does."

"He's really upset this time, though."

"Why especially now? You've gotten shot before."

She sighs. "Well, when there was about three kliks when I was about to die, and I could tell. I just... I didn't want him to have to die too, just cause I did. I broke our bond for a few minutes. It really scared him..."

I half-smile ruefully. "I wouldn't've let you die."

She shrugs. "Somethings can't be helped."

I chew on my lip, fiddling with my holomatter fingers. I really don't like this form. "Chomia and Elita...were good femmes. We won't forget them."

She sighs, dropping to sit on the ground. "I'm never going to be able to look 'Hide in the eye. Or Prime, for that matter."

I purse my lips. "And you weren't even _with _Elita when she...went. And Chromia wasn't technically..." I hesitate, worried that I made it worse. I think I did.

"That's the thing!" She turns fully to look at me. "Now she'll never get the _chance. _Primus knows I have no idea why, but she was crazy for that mech. And now..." She breaks off, her face crumpling.

I press my lips together, wrapping her in a hug with a frantic private com to Sideswipe.

**If you're pissed at 'Cee, get the frag over it and get your AFT OVER HERE. She doesn't need this.**

**What?**

**Did you just _forget _about Chromia and 'Lita? She needs you, like, now. I don't know what I'm doing.**

It only takes seconds for Sides's holoform to appear next to us, allowing me to move as he takes my place, whispering softly to her.

I sigh and turn away, walking away from them. I can see Optimus standing next to Ratchet, who is giving him an exam. Bee, Jolt, Lennox, and Mikaela are next to them, and Sam is a little ways off with some guy about his age, and Simmons. I sigh, and decide to join my charge. Ratchet will fix me up when he does, and until then, I'm not qualified to do it myself.

Mikaela grins half-heartedly at me. "You don't look so good."

I snort. "Thanks."

She shrugs sheepishly. "Sorry."

**Long time no see.**

I glance at Bee. **They're really rubbing off on you.**

**Shut it.**

**That's impossible, I'm not talking.**

He face-palms next to me, which, amusingly enough, rouses Ratchet's attention. "Are you injured, Bumblebee?"

Bee glares at me, shaking his helm rapidly. _'And I say, no, no, no.'_

Mikaela snorts at his song choice. Ratchet gives him a piercing look and turns his full attention back to Optimus.

Lennox turns around, dropping a small, handheld radio into a pocket. "'Kay, transports are here. Board up at the gulf."

Jolt looks at Lennox. "It's via the water?" Lennox nods. Jolt knots his servos together. "What if we can't see it?", he asks. His tone is perfectly serious, but I can tell he's just messing with the major.

"I doubt that, it's a huge ship..." Lennox replies doubtfully.

"Well, some of us have horrible visionary skills."

I catch Bee's optic. He's on the verge of laughing. Lennox is so confused, his expression is priceless.

"I...didn't know that was possible."

Jolt's optic ridges rise. "It's very possible. Do you know how many bots used to die every vorn on Cybertron, thanks to faulty optic calibration? Everyone walked into sharp objects. The planet itself was very sharp. Well, the vision wasn't sharp. But, seriously, it was terrible."

Ratchet turns around, smacking his apprentice upside the head. The medic turns to Lennox, scowling ferociously.

"He's being an aft. There's no such thing as bad vision in our species."

Jolt rolls his optics, muttering a little too audibly to Bee, "Primus, and that's a medic? That's just sad."

A wrench makes solid contact with the back of his helm, and he shuts up.

I hesitantly approach my alt-mode, slightly at a loss. I suppose that, as a holoform, I might be able to push...myself...up to the gulf. Arcee is up ahead, receiving a lot of support from Sideswipe. Well, honestly, he's practically dragging her, and her stabilizing servos are hardly even on the ground. I sigh, grabbing my handlebars and bringing the kickstand up. I push, starting to walk slowly. I groan softly. From the perspective of my holomatter 'muscles', my alt-mode is incredibly heavy. Also, the stress is making my chest hurt all the more.

**If you need help, all you have to do is ask.**

I turn around. Bee is standing a little ways behind me. My eyes narrow.

**I don't need any help.**

His ridges rise in disbelief, but he knows better than to contradict me. I go back to the task at hand. It's still completely ineffective.

**Maybe I _want _to help. You don't have to need it. **I sigh, still catching the underlying message of what he's saying. I don't have to _admit_ that I need it.

I purse my lips. **Fine.**

He gives me an expectant look, and I deactivate my holoform, transforming quickly. He locks optics with me, grabbing one of my arms and pulling it around his neck.

**They got you good.**

I scoff. "You're an aft."

**Oh, and you still keep up those good spirits! **

"I hate you.", I inform him.

**I'm touched.**

"I really do." My voice is void of emotion, save for fatigue.

**You sound like it. **He glances at me for a moment. **You look like you're about to drop dead. Stop talking.**

"Okay, that's just offensive."

He rolls his optics, whirring softly. **No, stupid. You're exhausted, and talking isn't helping you.**

"Oh."

It takes about three and a half more minutes to reach the ship. Bee sets me against a stack of crates up by the cabin, telling me to go ahead and recharge while I can. He turns and starts off towards Ratchet, and my optics offline by default. I can't stay online any longer.

* * *

><p>so, again, i am SO SORRY about to super long wait. I lost my TF fix for a while, and by the time it came back, and i started on this chapter, it took an unbelievably long time for me to finish this! please review, thanks for reading!<p> 


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